


Worth the Wait

by ndnickerson



Category: Nancy Drew - Keene
Genre: F/M, Nancy Drew Files, Post-Canon, Romance, Sexual Tension, Stranded
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-28
Updated: 2009-12-28
Packaged: 2017-10-05 10:17:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ndnickerson/pseuds/ndnickerson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nancy, Ned, Bess, and George are stranded in a mountain cabin during a snowstorm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worth the Wait

**Author's Note:**

> This is the full, i.e. uncensored version of this story.

Nancy sat at one of the picture windows, watching the snow beat against the glass. From every room in the cabin she could hear it. Even through Bess and George's bickering.

"If you'd packed a few less suitcases, we wouldn't have run out of gas so fast!"

"Like fifteen more feet down the road would have mattered! We're in the middle of nowhere!"

Nancy nodded in silent agreement, her blue eyes still tracing the slowly disappearing lines of the landscape. The sky was a pure blinding white. They had been lucky to find this place in the snow.

Tuning out the cousins' arguing, Nancy instead listened for Ned, who hadn't been able to sit down at the kitchen table and participate in the rapidly degenerating "discussion" of what the four of them should do. The phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen was eerily silent when they picked it up; the lines had probably gone down in the storm, along with the ones that would have supplied this place with power. Bess's cell phone was dead, and the remaining three were lined up on the kitchen counter, all showing no bars, no service whatsoever. Carson had joked about giving her a satellite phone for Christmas. She was starting to wish, only a little, that it had been more than a joke.

Shaking herself, Nancy stood and, shivering in her coat, followed the sound of Ned's grunts of exertion to the back door. He had his coat off; the long-sleeved henley he wore under his lined vest cast his arms into sharp muscular relief, as he shoveled another lump of snow, pivoted, and dumped it. When he sensed her gaze on him, he turned and smiled at her, and Nancy felt her heart skip a beat, even after all this time.

"You have to be freezing."

He shrugged, dipping his head to rub his forehead against one sleeve before he shoveled another lump of snow. "It's not too bad out here," he said, his voice slightly breathless. "The wind's almost peaceful, after being inside."

Nancy caught his subtle nod in Bess and George's direction, and she quirked her lips in an answering smile. "Once we figure out dinner they'll feel better. At least there's no way we'll starve."

Every canned food imaginable was in the cabin, even ones Nancy hadn't known could be canned. Though the space was small, the stunning view and remote location told her someone affluent owned it. Not everyone could afford to carve a site for a vacation home practically into the side of a mountain. She had found the hunting rifles in a locked closet, and while she knew Ned's father had taught him how to shoot, she was still far more comfortable with the idea of Ned going slowly crazy cooped up in the cabin with them, than going out into the snow with nary a cell phone or piece of modern technology to guide him. And the idea of gutting an animal made her feel slightly daunted and slightly more nauseated.

"Well," Ned said, peering up at the sky, "it looks like it's starting to taper off. If we're lucky, in the morning, it won't have gotten any deeper and we can start hiking back to town."

"Oh," Nancy said, feigning innocence, "I didn't know one of your fifteen major switches involved meteorology."

Ned glowered playfully at her, and a second later he had tossed the shovel into the snow and was sweeping her up into his arms. "I just don't think we should try to leave tonight," he told her, a certain gleam in his eye.

"Yeah, it is so dark out here and everything," Nancy said softly, searching his gaze, knowing full well that it was hours until sundown. He was so close to her, and his lips had just brushed hers when the front door of the cabin banged open.

"I'm not staying in there with her one more minute," Bess declared, anger radiating off her in waves.

Nancy sighed and relaxed her grip on the collar of Ned's vest, turning reluctantly to acknowledge Bess's tantrum. "I'll go talk to her," she offered, and Ned shot her a meaningful look before he reached for the shovel again.

"She's impossible!" Bess fumed. "And I am not hiking up to the town! It has to be twenty miles away!"

"At least," Nancy agreed, wrapping a comforting arm around Bess. "But it'll be okay. The storm can't last forever."

"Try telling George that," Bess muttered. "This is so inconvenient. I have tickets to a concert tomorrow night," she reminded Nancy, brushing blonde hair out of her blue eyes.

"If you miss it, I promise we'll go to another one this summer," Nancy said seriously. "Now let's get back inside before we freeze to death, and talk about what we're going to do."

At sundown, the wind grew even louder, and during the worst gusts the four of them could feel the house trembling very gently around them. Bess made them all mugs of makeshift hot cocoa, and George assembled aluminum foil packets of whatever she could find. It wasn't the best meal Nancy had ever eaten, but she was so hungry from mediating between Bess and George all day, and the stress of being snowbound, that she barely tasted the food as it went down.

When it was too dark to play another game of cards or ignore the howling of the wind, George took a quarter out of her pocket. "We'll flip for the bed," she said.

Nancy glanced over at the couch, which held a fold-out bed, and the large comfortable armchair. In the master bedroom was a large luxurious bed, but there were plenty of blankets, and she couldn't imagine being comfortable with the four of them bundled into the only real bed. Even though it would be warm, she realized, shivering in her coat.

"Heads," Ned called, swirling the last of his cocoa in the mug before swallowing it. The air around them was so cold that it turned hot food icy in minutes. He grimaced at the taste and she frowned in sympathy.

"Tails," George crowed when she revealed the coin. "All right!"

"The only way I'm splitting a bed with you is if you promise to not say a single word to me once we're in it," Bess said seriously, already glancing toward the overnight bag she and Nancy had gone back to the car to retrieve.

George sighed. "In five minutes you'll be snoring anyway," she said, ducking as Bess chased her into the room.

When they were alone, Nancy turned to Ned with a soft smile. "So, want to flip for the sofa-bed?" she asked, pulling a quarter out of her own pocket.

Ned shook his head, putting his hand on hers. "You can take it," he conceded. "Or the chair, if that looks more comfortable."

Nancy tilted her head. "You sure?"

"Definitely," he said, bending over to untie his shoes. "Just make sure you get us plenty of blankets."

While Ned vanished with his own overnight bag, considerably smaller than the veritable steamer trunk Bess used, Nancy made her way quietly into the master bedroom, as Bess and George tossed insults at each other, and emerged from the linen closet with four blankets hugged to her chest. George glanced over her shoulder at Nancy, then raised an eyebrow.

"And what are those for?"

"Well, if you two can sleep in the same bed without killing each other, I thought I'd sleep on the pull-out sofa bed," Nancy said archly.

"I thought you'd let Ned have it," Bess mumbled, her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth.

Nancy glanced over at the bed. "Yeah, well. I think all three of us could fit in there as long as we didn't move after."

"It's not that bad," George scoffed.

"It's just for a night," Nancy soothed. "It's no big deal. But I'll go ahead and get changed in here."

Even once she had her flannel pajamas on, Nancy was still shivering. The cold was so awful that it almost burned. She wrapped herself in a thick snug blanket that smelled fresh out of its plastic bag and went to the windows, throwing open the shutters. The view was spectacular, even if her teeth were chattering. From the angle, the horizon was so low beneath them that it felt like she was floating in space. She sat down on the edge of the sofa bed and hugged her knees to her chest, unable to take her eyes off the sky. The stars were clear. There was almost no light pollution, this far out.

"It's almost worth it, isn't it."

She glanced over at her boyfriend, dressed in an Emerson sweatsuit, and he came over to sit down beside her, dropping his overnight bag on the floor on the way.

"Worth it to be stuck here?"

He nodded. "Do you know that during the entire case we said maybe two words to each other that weren't about it?"

Nancy closed her eyes. "Yeah," she admitted. "I can't help it."

He shrugged, and she felt the movement even though she didn't look at him. "I know," he said, and there was no accusation in his voice. He dropped a kiss on her forehead, then gathered up a few of the spare blankets and made himself a sort of cocoon in the recliner. Nancy sat watching the stars for a few more minutes, listening to the fire as it whispered itself to grey ash, then went to the shutters, closing them all save one. The wind was kicking up again; she could feel it singing along the walls, rattling the glass in the panes.

For a long time after she lay down on the uncomfortable bed, her elbow cradling her head against the hard pillow, she kept staring out the window, away from her boyfriend. She couldn't really remember, exactly, the last time they'd had an opportunity to be alone, to really be alone, without some interruption. And here, even, they weren't really alone; Bess and George were in the next room, and would be, for the rest of the trip. Ned was generally patient, but even he had to break sometime.

She shifted in the bed and groaned softly. Her feet were like blocks of ice, and with every movement she made, however slight, the cocoon around her shifted and let in another gust of cool air. Her flannel shirt was twisted and had risen to just below her breasts, and her pants were low on her hips. She made a face and pulled the comforter up over her numb face, her teeth chattering.

From behind her she heard Ned climb out of his chair, and then the shutter coming over the window, which would have left the room in darkness. She burrowed a little deeper into her nest of blankets, trying to move as little as she could. Then she felt the bed shift under Ned's weight, and a sudden drift of cold wind down her back made her suck in a swift, startled breath. Then she felt Ned nestle in behind her, his knees tucked up to curve with hers, his arm coming over her to pull her in close. Little by little she began to relax into his warmth, the comforting sound of him breathing just against her hair.

"Better?"

She nodded, still shivering a little. "Thanks."

He kissed the crown of her head. "You know I think you're the most beautiful girl in the world," he said, his voice low and husky.

And in that moment Nancy felt a warmth spread inside her that made her not care about the blankets or the blue-white world outside or anything other than the two of them. "And I love you," she whispered, sliding her hand over his.

"I love you too."

She smiled and gently stroked her fingers over his, fighting the urge to turn in his arms. Even though she was numb with cold, she had a feeling they wouldn't be for long, facing each other this close. She had an unpleasant intuition that the bedsprings would be less than discreet.

"I had an idea," he said quietly behind her. "You think some pretty well-off people own this place, right?"

"Yeah," she replied, keeping her voice low. Even over the roar of the wind, she didn't want to wake Bess and George if she could help it, didn't want to have them see her and Ned like this. "I mean, look at it."

"And look at the electric coffeepot, and the clock radio," Ned pointed out, and Nancy was just about to nod in agreement when he slid his hand from under hers and found the hem of her shirt.

"There has to be some way to get power here," she reasoned out loud, and her voice was surprisingly steady. Saying anything about his roaming hand would just make it embarrassing. Besides, his fingers were a little chilly. He probably just wanted to warm up.

"Exactly," Ned said. "So there has to be a central box in the house, or a breaker, or maybe a generator, if we're lucky."

His cool fingertips were ticklish against the bare skin of her belly, and then his hand was sliding up under her shirt, and without thinking about it, when he encountered the barrier that was her shirt twisted around her, she arched to relieve the tension and his hand touched her breast.

"And if we're not?" Nancy breathed, glad she couldn't see his face, glad he couldn't see hers.

"Then," he said, and his thumb slid up the curve of her breast until it found her nipple, and her mouth fell open, "I guess we hope that we can make it through a hike up to the next town."

"Yeah," Nancy mumbled, squeezing her thighs together as Ned's thumb flicked the hard tip of her breast. Her nipples had already been tight from the cold air. He squeezed it gently and moved to the other, and she felt something shift between her thighs, waiting.

"At the very least there might be a kerosene heater."

"Or gas for a generator," Nancy added, almost moaning. Her voice had gone breathy. When Ned's other hand slid under her, she tilted back against him, pulling the blanket tight over them, and then her breasts were cupped loosely in his hands and he was fondling her nipples in sync and she wondered if he knew exactly how wet he was making her. Well, he had promised to warm her up. She just hadn't expected it to be quite this enjoyable.

"But probably not enough for us to get very far," Ned pointed out, and she squirmed against him, her ass brushing the bulging front of his sweatpants. So while he might not know what he was doing to her, she was quite aware of what she was doing to him, and she smiled, even as his grip on her tightened.

"I think we could get far enough," she whispered breathlessly, and threw one leg over his, keeping him close.

His caress stilled; then, as though he couldn't quite stop himself, he kept one hand, the one pinned under her, on her breast, thumb gently teasing the tip, while his other hand slid down, plucked gently under the waistband of her pants and into her panties, and then she was arching hard against him as his fingers slid between her legs, to where she was wet, to where she wanted him more than she wanted anything else. When the blanket slid down an inch, then a foot, she didn't feel it, didn't feel the cold air biting through her shirt, only felt the light smooth flick of the ball of his thumb over her nipple and the flannel sliding over the other, and the trail of fire his other hand was tracing between her thighs as he found her clit. She let out a low relieved moan and shivered, opening her legs wider, feeling the hard resistance of his cock through their clothes and against her ass.

"Shh," he whispered, and she tried to obey him, but she couldn't. This tension was from much more than just her most recent case, from more than being in so close proximity and being unable to snatch more than a few delicious moments together. This was from the last frat party she'd been able to attend and her prom nights and how much she never wanted him to stop and how afraid she was that he wouldn't, that he'd see through her feeble protests to what she needed. If she let him go this far, one night, they both knew, he'd go a little farther and a little farther and then he would be her first, and after that, she'd never be able to treat their relationship lightly again.

The prospect scared the hell out of her, even as she writhed under his touch, her hips finding a slow thrust to match the caress of his fingers, and then she felt him bite her shoulder in frustration. "Shh," he whispered again, sliding his fingers out of her in retaliation, and in unspoken and frighteningly rapid agreement they rolled together so that she was on her belly and he on top of her, her knees bent wide, his hand urgently clutching at her breast, as she buried her face in the pillow and sobbed out his name while he slid three fingers so deep inside her, his thumb tracing quick circles over her clit, the length of his cock hard against her ass. Her thighs trembled as she thrust her hips down against his hand, over and over, her hair fluttering against her lips as she drew in a breath only to urge him on, in harsh wordless exhortation. His weight thrilled her and made her feel powerless, all at once, and when his thumbnail caught the tip of her clit she buried her face even deeper and screamed so loud into the pillow that surely Bess and George would hear and rush out to find them in the single most undignified position she had ever found herself in.

And then she realized, faintly, that even while she was relentlessly thrusting her hips down against his hand, he was thrusting his hips against her ass, panting above her. She thought of the way he had taught her how to take him in hand and please him, and how any second now he was going to break, and her nipple was almost raw from his insistent caress, and then the pressure that was her orgasm began to build inside her and she whimpered his name over and over as she jerked her hips hard against him, her entire body shuddering as she came.

He groaned something in the dark and pressed his fingers tight against the wet spasm of her flesh before he started to slide his hand out from under her, and she spat out her mouthful of pillowcase before turning onto her back, under him. He was fumbling with his sweatpants, pushing them down, and in the faintest moonlit gleam between the nearly closed shutters she could see his erection, as his fingers, still wet from her, closed around it. He was standing on his knees, straddling her, but his weight wasn't pinning her down anymore, and she sat up, her nipples still sensitive as the flannel kissed them, and she put her palm on the small of his back and gently urged him toward her.

She had tasted him before but not them mingled, and Ned was still pumping his cock in his hand as she swirled her tongue around the tip, then took a few more inches in her mouth. She scooted back to relax the angle of her neck and Ned hissed when the edge of her teeth slid over his sensitive skin, and then he was almost pinning her against the back of the couch, her hands resting loosely on his bare hips, the tip of his cock following the curve of her tongue nearly to the back of her throat. She dug her nails into his sides and he thrust once more, automatically, before calming, and she held him still while she took as much of his cock as she could, then pulled back, repeating a few times before she swirled her tongue at the tip and started over again, relaxing her hold on him a little. He had his hands buried in her hair and his fingers tightened, pulling against her scalp, when he was on the point of orgasm, so she closed her eyes and raked her nails down his ass as he shuddered and came, his head thrown back, and she could smell only him, the musky scent of his sweat and his desire and her own.

The sullen glow of the sky woke Nancy in the morning. She turned her face into the pillow, scowling, her legs and arms cramped tight from the chill. When she remembered that she wasn't alone, she rolled onto her back, only to find that Ned wasn't where she remembered him. The pillow was still dented from where his head had lain, but the sheets were warm only where she touched them.

The back door creaked open and Nancy half-rose immediately, her breath catching in her dry throat, suddenly aware that her hair was a mass of tangles across her forehead and cheeks and that a few of the buttons on her flannel nightshirt had managed to loose themselves. Ned swiftly closed the door behind himself and stamped the snow from his boots, a few hefty chunks of firewood in his arms.

"Ugh. There's no coffee, is there."

At the sound of George's voice Nancy startled guiltily. She had pushed herself up on her elbows, and didn't doubt, from the calculated way Ned was keeping himself from looking at her, that her pose had looked a bit provocative. George, bundled for warmth in a sweatsuit, had one arm nestled against her stomach, the other hand rubbing fiercely at her sleep-bleared eyes as she stood in the master bedroom's doorway.

"There isn't," Ned apologized, finally finding his voice, and the husky rasp of it made Nancy draw the covers tighter around herself. "But I can bring in a bowl of snow to melt, if you want to boil it over the fire and make some."

George yawned hugely. "A few cups of coffee and we'll be ready to get out of here," she said, and Nancy could already see her planning what wicked tactic she'd use to wake her cousin.

Ned gave a low, sarcastic laugh. "Um, I doubt it," he returned, and winced as he opened the door behind him.

Nancy and George both gasped at the sight. Ned had to throw his shoulder against it to open it more than a few feet; overnight, the clean smooth blanket of snow had grown by several inches, and from the vague blinding color of the sky overhead and the size of the flakes still falling, it wasn't going to let up anytime soon.

"Great," George said in disgust, neatly summing up Nancy's feelings. "So what do we do?"

Ned shot a loaded glance over at Nancy, one that sent a hot blush into her cheeks. "Nan and I were talking last night," he began, and walked over to the fireplace to put the wood in. "Maybe there's a way we can get power in here. I checked the phone again and it's still not working, but at least we can be comfortable while we wait it out. And we're definitely going to have to wait this out."

"What, are we going to rig up some sort of kite-and-key contraption?" George asked, crossing her arms. "'Get power'?"

"If there's a breaker we need to flip," Nancy explained, sweeping her hair back as she held the covers to her chest. "Maybe a generator. Something."

"So let's go."

Ned shook his head. "Nan and I will go look," he said. "You and Bess can stay here and try the phones, figure out supplies, that kind of thing."

"Why not me and Nancy?" George had a contentious gleam in her eye. "Why not all four of us? Divide and conquer, what?"

"Because Bess doesn't do this kind of thing well," Nancy replied. "And we have two winter coats between us. And I think if Ned doesn't get out there and do something, he's going to go stir-crazy."

Ned nodded gratefully at her interpretation. "So, if you want to get going...?"

"Definitely," she nodded, scrambling out of bed, wincing when her bare feet touched the cold hardwood. While she was washing her face and giving herself a quick once-over, she could still hear George arguing with Ned.

"I'm not going to just hang out here like Frontier Barbie. That's Bess's job. Didn't you say there were some hunting rifles in here?"

"Yeah..." Ned said, not sounding the least bit sure.

"Maybe I could go hunting."

Ned laughed. "When I said we were stuck here, I didn't mean it'd be for months. And have you ever even been hunting?"

"Of course," George defended herself. "Although honestly it's the stalking part that appeals to me, not the actual killing."

"Maybe later."

Leaving a mildly sullen George behind, Nancy and Ned didn't look at each other until they were well away from the cabin, the perpetual wind snatching the air practically from beneath their noses. Nancy shivered under her coat and Ned took her gloved hand in his own.

"I was thinking we could hike back to the road and see if we can find a power line," Ned shouted to her, and she nodded, her eyes flooding under her sunglasses. Their progress was slow; the snow was practically up to her knees, and when they finally did reach the road Nancy wanted nothing more than to collapse under the shelter of a tree and rest for a few minutes. Their abandoned car was pulled well over to the side, and with a practiced eye Nancy could make out a few nearly obscured tracks through the snow, but anyone would have to be crazy to attempt it in this weather, especially if the plows didn't come through. Ned turned to her and raised his eyebrow, and she shrugged a little.

From the road they started back, making a wide circle that took longer than their direct path from the cabin. They were quiet, but the whole world sounded hushed, muffled from the snow, in a stillness so loud it roared. It was at the edge of the treeline that Nancy first saw a much smaller cabin, like a doghouse designed for a human adult.

"The generator," Nancy sighed, when they stepped inside, out of the snow. While she brushed the accumulated flakes from her hood and shoulders, Ned stepped in and shivered behind her, eyeing the still machine.

"All right," he said approvingly. "Now we just need to get it working."

Nancy spotted a red plastic gasoline jug in the corner and headed toward it, keeping an eye out for spiders or anything else that might have found their sanctuary from the cold. "Well, if this is what I think it is, maybe we should all just hike back to the car and take our chances," she said, sloshing it so they could hear the contents.

Ned pointed to a sticker above the control panel. "Diesel," he read. "Wouldn't do any good in the car."

Nancy sat back, leaning against the wall, and watched her boyfriend work. Twice he glanced over his shoulder at her, but neither time did he say anything.

"Is there something you need me to do?" she finally asked, concerned.

He was quiet for another minute. "Last night," he began, but didn't continue.

Nancy waited a beat before responding lightly, "Last night what?"

"I guess I'm wondering whether I need to apologize."

He kept his head ducked over his work, and Nancy shoved her hands in her pockets, then walked toward him. "I can't think of anything you need to apologize for," she replied, gently bumping her arm against his. 

He half-smiled. "Then I guess I won't," he said. "And, tonight, if you want to..."

Without letting herself think about it she stepped behind him, her cheek near his shoulder blade, and slipped her hands into his front pockets. "If tonight I want to what," she whispered, her hips tight against his.

He made a soft sound that was almost a whimper. "Just hold still," he said, and Nancy closed her eyes, heat prickling at her cheeks as the raw wind whipped around the shack, bleeding through the space between the boards. She could feel the long smooth lines of him, the solid muscle of his thighs and shoulders.

Then he turned in her embrace, scooped her up and pressed her against the wall, boosting her so their hips were level as he leaned in for a long, rough kiss. She kept her arms around his neck and he had his wrapped around her shoulders, one tangled in her long hair. The cold was enough to take their breath away, and when the cold tip of his nose slipped down the line of her neck she shivered, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Nan," he murmured huskily, his breath warm against her collarbone. He nipped lightly at the point where her neck met her shoulder and she giggled, her hips angling against his. In the same moment their gazes met and locked, in the same moment she was aware of how tightly they were pressed together and exactly how his body was responding to hers.

"Ned," she whispered, a little uncertainly, and when his head dipped toward hers she responded instinctually, the way she always had, tilting her face just so and closing her eyes, her arms still tight around his neck. He cupped her ass in both hands and even through the haze of their kiss she felt him begin to grind slowly against her. She shifted to relieve the tension in her thighs and he caught her just right, with the bulk of their jeans and the pressure of their embrace, just brushing the tip of her clit through their clothes, and she went momentarily boneless, warmth flooding over her. She shifted and ground against him in return, and their kisses became insistent, his hand groping over her to cup her breast through the bulk of her coat. Impatiently she ripped the zipper down and shrugged her coat open, then nipped at his own neck, arching against his touch as his palm cupped over her.

He growled her name and pushed off the wall, pressing at her legs to urge her down, but she kept herself wrapped around him, and then he tugged her sweater up and pushed her bra up with little finesse. Her nipples were already puckered tight from the cool air and he let her lean her back against the wall as he fondled her breasts, his hands chilled as the air, and she found herself grinding against him with every caress. When he cupped one breast in his hand and lifted it to his dipping head, she suddenly unwrapped her legs from around his waist and let herself slide to the floor, twining her fingers in his belt-loops so that he followed. When he knelt over her and took one tight nipple into the warmth of his mouth, she slowly unfastened his jeans, knowing he was very aware of her every movement, and slid one palm down over the front of his boxers. Through the thin layer of cloth she stroked him, as he suckled against her breasts, until his hips were starting to jerk in time with her movements, and then he pulled back, gasping, leaving her breasts cold and bare, and started to unfasten her own jeans.

Then he stopped, just as he was pulling the zipper of her fly down, and their gazes caught again, his brown eyes hazed with lust. She gently brushed her fingertips quickly over the head of his cock and he had to swallow hard before he could say anything.

"We're on the floor of a shack in the woods," he said, his teeth chattering a little.

It took a full minute for her to understand what he had said, mostly because he didn't entirely stop, and she kept him loosely cupped under her hand while he slid his hand into her panties and she squirmed against him. Her clit was already erect and waiting for him, and when his thumb stroked over it the first time she ground against his touch, letting out a low, sobbing moan of relief.

"And," she managed to reply, as her palm, through the fly of his boxers, made contact with the hot firm flesh of his cock.

"It's fucking freezing in here."

"I know," she said, reaching up to pull her sweater back over her breasts, baring the column of her throat as he curved his fingers up between her thighs. He pushed her hand away and brushed his other thumb over the tip of her breast, and her hips surged slowly under him again. She started to squirm partially out of her jeans, taking him firmly by his erection and leading him down.

"I don't think I can do it. Like this."

Nancy's blue eyes popped open. The expression on her boyfriend's face was a strange mixture of frustration, embarrassment, and lust, and she made a soft whimper as his thumb traced another circle over her clit. Her belly felt tight, and even through the cold she could feel sweat in the fold of flesh beneath her breasts, under her clothes. She thrust her hips up against his hand, panting, begging him to let her come.

"It's not freezing in _here_," she said, holding his gaze with her own as she bucked against him again.

She could actually see him considering it, even as his fingers teased her wet flesh, his thumb moving in counterpoint to the rise and fall of her hips as she writhed underneath him, helpless to stop. Every stroke against her clit sent shivers all the way up her spine, and she wanted nothing more, wanted only the incredible heart-stopping pleasure he had given her the night before, wanted him to find his own with her when he slid his cock inside her. She thumbed aside the fly and slipped inside, stroking the edge of her thumb against his hard flesh.

"I want you, Ned," she whimpered, shivering as he stroked her clit again, again. The tip of his cock was just wet, and she slid the ball of her thumb in a gentle circle over it, making him groan in pleasure. She made her voice even softer, feeling her shoulders tense as his fingers finally began to thrust in her, bringing her to the edge, where everything was half ecstasy, half pain. "I want you inside me."

"God," he cried in frustration and crushed her underneath him, her knees coming up to fit him in the valley between her thighs, and then his mouth was on hers and she was pumping his cock gently in her fist, stopping only to caress the ball of her thumb over the tip. He slid his other hand into her panties and suddenly she felt four fingers quick and deep between her thighs, his entire other hand massaging her clit with frantic force, and she arched, screaming as she came, writhing under him. He was relentless, and in the tight warmth between their bodies she kept stroking his cock, her fingertips gently fluttering against the swell of his balls, as her heels beat on the floor. Even when she begged him to stop he wouldn't, and brought her to the peak of another orgasm, another, until she closed her fist just hard enough around his cock to get his attention.

"Your turn," she panted.

He pushed her jeans and panties down to her knees and she closed her eyes as she felt his cock against the oversensitized wet flesh between her legs, but then he closed her thighs around his erection, the flesh still wet with sweat and desire so that he slid smoothly with each thrust, and she was pinned under him again. He came quickly, and she could feel the hot slick of his seed against her skin as he collapsed down against her. She closed her eyes and opened her thighs a little, letting the length of his cock press a little more firmly against her inner flesh, and kissed the corner of his mouth.

"Don't think you had anything to worry about," she murmured, still panting a little.

He chuckled, his breathing still labored. "It's not that I don't think about you a lot," he said. "Just not exactly like this."

"You don't think about having sex with me?"

He took in the mock wide-eyed innocent look on her face and pushed himself off her, gently pulled his cock from between the press of her thighs, and she scrambled to pull her jeans back up, watching him wince as he did the same.

"I think about having sex with you all the time."

She finished pulling her bra back into place and smiled at him, just a little. "Me too."

"And I know what we just did pushed the line a little..."

She took a deep breath. "You mean when I said 'I want you inside me,' that wasn't quite explicit enough?"

The color in Ned's cheeks deepened for a moment, under the windburn. "Yeah," he mumbled. "But that was in the heat of the moment, and..."

Nancy finished zipping up her coat, with Ned sitting on the floor in front of her. When he trailed off she climbed into his lap and wrapped her legs around his waist, then brought her mouth against his ear.

"I want to feel your cock inside me," she said, slowly, emphasizing every word, her lips brushing his earlobe and her hand buried in his hair. "I want you to fuck me and I want you to come inside me, not just fuck the inside of my thighs or my mouth. I want you to show me how much you love me, and I want you to come when I do, I want to feel every single damn inch of you in me," she whispered, and Ned, who was panting, moaned in frustration when she darted her tongue against the hollow behind his ear. He grabbed her ass hard and settled her more firmly against him before locking his mouth against hers in a savage, bruising kiss.

"Tonight," he murmured, when they pulled apart, searching each other's eyes. "We'll get the generator working and you make sure we get the master bedroom and tonight, if you really want this..."

She nodded, and silenced him with another kiss.

With the generator working, George and Bess's moods had brightened considerably by the time Nancy and Ned made it back to the cabin, having made a few more unexpected detours on the way. The first thing Bess did was take a long, luxurious shower, and her rhapsodies about how clean she felt made Nancy practically squirm, uncomfortable. Ned was taking his turn in the shower when Nancy dealt a desultory hand of gin rummy, aware the entire time of how greasy her hair must be.

"If we're lucky tomorrow, we'll be able to get out of here," she began.

Bess sighed, propping her chin in her hand as she glanced down at the cards in the other. "I almost don't want to leave," she said wistfully.

George turned a theatrically shocked face in her cousin's direction. "All day long you were saying that if we didn't get out of here in an hour, two tops, you were going to rip my arm off and beat me to death with it!"

"Like I could," Bess said witheringly. "I just feel so much better." She ran a hand through her clean, light hair. "Think about it. How long has it been since we've gone on a regular vacation?"

"With Nancy?" George let out a derisive snort.

"Hey," Nancy objected, putting her hand face-down on the table. "Are you saying it isn't fun?"

"Sure it's fun," Bess said, and a teasing look came over her face. "If you mean counting the number of grey hairs I've grown when I get home."

"And I get a lot of chance to practice judo," George grinned wickedly.

Nancy shook her head. "You two just don't have any sense of what fun is," she dismissed. "See if I invite you along next time."

"To get shot at, poisoned, kidnapped, or roughed up," Bess pretended to muse. "You're right. That's excitement you just can't buy at a travel agency."

"I'm surprised you didn't come across some poor guy half-buried in a snowdrift when you were out looking for the generator," George said, then peered at Nancy in sudden suspicion. "You two were gone for a while, though. Did you?"

Nancy rubbed the bridge of her nose. "No half-dead snowskiiers, no buried pirate's gold, nothing," she said. "It just took Ned a while to get the generator started."

"Thank God." Bess had put a sweater and her coat on after her shower, to keep the chill from her still-damp skin. Now she shrugged out of the coat. "I guess tonight George and I won't have to sleep all spooned up to keep warm."

"Well, we can't keep the generator running forever," Nancy pointed out. "Especially if something happens and we're stuck here again tomorrow."

"Ugh," George said unhappily, but agreed. "There's only so many more hands of cards I can play before I snap, though." Bess nodded vehemently.

"So we can switch and you guys sleep on the sofa-bed tonight?" Nancy asked, barely daring to look up.

"Well, you do deserve something nice," Bess decided, tossing her clean hair again. "I haven't enjoyed a shower that much in ages, even if we are going to end up turning the damn thing off."

Ned came back from his shower, his hair still barely damp against his temples, and leaned down to kiss Nancy, and she turned toward him and leaned into it, tasting toothpaste and clean. "Hey," she whispered when he pulled back, her eyelashes fluttering as she gazed into his eyes.

"Hey," he smiled, his fingers trailing over her back, between her shoulder blades. "Give it about ten minutes, okay?"

Nine and a half minutes later Nancy was standing in the shower, hair a soapy mass of bubbles from her shampoo, antibacterial lather in her palms, and she was smiling. The water pressure wasn't high, but the water was steaming hot, and the thought of climbing into clean pajamas and falling asleep between clean sheets, secure in her boyfriend's arms, made her almost shiver with joy.

"You're getting soft, Drew," she murmured to herself, rinsing swirls of lather from her arms. "Used to be roughing it for a few days was cake."

They kept the generator on for an hour after Nancy stepped out of the shower, long enough for her to dry her hair, long enough for them to build a fire and assemble another makeshift meal. George found the switch and volunteered to hike back out to the generator shack and make sure everything was in order, while Bess and Nancy washed dishes, and Ned brought in enough firewood to keep the cabin above freezing for the rest of the night.

"Ready to turn in?"

Bess shot Nancy a loaded glance, smothering a pointed giggle under her hand. Ned was standing in the doorway leading into the master bedroom, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed, the firelight dancing in his eyes. Nancy dried off her hands with a dishtowel, answering his smile with one of her own as George walked back in.

"Whew, it's cold out there! Feels great in here."

"Yeah. Hey, want to play dominoes?" Bess nudged her cousin.

"Sure," George replied. "You two in?"

Nancy and Ned exchanged a helpless glance, even as Bess burst out laughing. "George, they—"

"Yeah, why not," Nancy interrupted. "Maybe a round or two before we go to bed."

"Or, hell, why not all twelve," Bess said, disappearing into the pantry. She returned with a dusty bottle of wine and a corkscrew.

"Are you sure about this?" Nancy said worriedly, as Ned came over to put his arm around her.

"After everything else we've eaten or used?" Bess asked, twisting the screw in. "It's not like they'd have left this wine here if they didn't want us to drink it."

"That made absolutely no sense," George replied, and they all jumped a little when the cork popped.

The first bottle went quickly, and when Nancy finished her first glass she was already flushed. Halfway through the second bottle, she could feel Ned's knee brushing hers under the table, and then his fingers against her own, while he feigned glances at her tiles. Bess was more giggly than usual, George's laughter loud and genuine, and while they were all four seated around that small table in the empty cabin in the middle of nowhere, Nancy felt a happy warmth swell in her chest. Everything was all right. In the morning they would find a way back to civilization and everything would be all right.

Nancy crowed as she won her second round of the night, and Bess and George sighed and started counting up their scores. Ned leaned over, his mouth warm against her ear, and whispered, "Come here, I have to show you something."

She was a little confused, stumbling a little, as Ned took her hand and led her to the bedroom. "Goodnight, you two," he called, and their protests and catcalls were lost as he shouldered the door closed behind him and swept Nancy up into his arms.

"What was it you had to show me?" she murmured, searching his eyes.

"Nothing," he replied, and gave her a kiss so sweet it tingled all the way down to her toes.

His hands found the hem of her shirt and he tugged it down, tight against the swell of her breasts, her arms coming up to circle his shoulders. They pulled apart only when he tugged her shirt up, and she stood gazing up at him, his face half in shadow from the flicker of the oil lamp. She didn't say anything; she couldn't, her heart was beating so hard that if she stopped and thought, surely she would lose cohesion, burst into a swirl of hazy red molecules.

"It's all right, you know," Ned said quietly, folding his fingers between hers. "It's all right if you've changed your mind."

"I haven't," she whispered, then cleared her throat. "I do want this."

He nodded and kissed her again, tracing the backs of his fingers down the line of her jaw, her neck, over her collarbone, and then his fingertips were sliding under the cup of her bra, to her breast. He kissed her cheek as he pushed the cup down, baring her breast, and then deliberately drew his thumb over her nipple. Puckered from the cold, it sprang back hard against his touch, and he gazed down at her, slowly pushing the other cup down. He tugged her other nipple gently between his finger and thumb, and she shivered, the ache between her thighs pulsing softly in response.

"That feels good," she whispered, shrugging a little so that the straps fell from her shoulders, and he put his arms around her, his chest warm against hers as he unhooked her bra. He pulled it slowly down, and she tugged at his shirt, smiling as he tossed her bra away and lifted his arms obligingly over his head. With his shirt off he shivered.

"Do you want to get in bed?"

"Oh, so when it's just me you don't care, but when you're cold...?"

She was smiling, and he picked her up and brought his mouth down to her nipple, which he stroked with his warm tongue over and over until she was laughing, her hands buried in his hair. He found the other, tugging it gently with his teeth between strokes, and she wrapped her legs around him, her heart giving one last wild beat as he lowered her to the bed.

"Can you bring the lamp over here," she asked breathlessly, pushing herself up, and he nodded. In the dim light his chest was the same shade as deep, rich honey, and she brushed her thumbs over his own nipples, smiling when his lashes lowered to his cheeks for a second.

"What was the lamp for," he managed, his voice husky.

"So I can see you," she whispered, holding his gaze as she unfastened his jeans. She pushed them all the way to his ankles before reaching for his boxers, and he was already fully erect, flushed a deep red, as he stepped out of the last of his clothes.

She had seen him before, but only in brief, embarrassed flashes, between the sheets, in the weak moonlight the night before. She caressed him curiously and he stirred to her touch, his cock thick and hot, the sensitive flesh moving over his hard length as she stroked her fingers over it. Without thinking she sat up on her knees, and he stepped closer, letting out a long trembling breath as she planted a soft kiss just above his belly button, her long hair brushing the plane of his abs and his upper thighs, the defined saddle of flesh that marked his hips.

She slid her palm between his legs and cupped his balls gently, her every caress slow and soft, and he moved closer until the tip of his cock was just against her belly, his larger hands cupping and squeezing her breasts. Then his cock was between her breasts and he was pushing them together, against it, his thumbs gently flicking her nipples as he thrust a few times. She laughed softly at the strange feel of it, her hands resting on his hips.

"You had something else in mind?"

She nodded, and when he let her go she pushed herself to her feet and stood in front of him. He took it slowly, dropping kisses on the points of her shoulders, the tip of her nose, the back of her jaw, as he unfastened her pants, her breasts still tingling a little. He left her panties on, and she was grateful for it when he pulled back the covers, the sheets blinding cold against her bare skin. He left her alone for a moment and she bundled between, shivering, and when he returned she watched him put the condom, still in its wrapper, on the bedside table before sliding in to join her.

"I'm on the pill," she reminded him, shivering when she moved into his arms.

"And I'd rather not test it," he replied, turning toward her, and his cock was firm against her belly when they touched.

"It's so strange," she admitted, trailing her fingers down his side before she took him in her hand again.

"My dick?"

"Being like this," she corrected him, quietly, cutting her eyes at him for a moment. "Not being afraid of what's going to happen."

"You're not afraid?"

She gazed up at him, watching the subtle tremors in his expression when she ran the ball of her thumb over the tip of his cock, then again, again. "I am a little," she said. "But I want this more."

He nodded, then gently pushed her onto her back, and when he rolled on top of her she bent her knees, opening her legs so his hips could fit against her own. His face was above hers, his collarbone on level with her eyes, and she skimmed her palm down the line of his back, to cup the curve of his ass.

"I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered, and he shivered when she slid her hand between his legs and gently caressed his balls. "Why won't you touch me?"

"Because I'm already about to explode as it is," he explained quietly.

"So do it."

He bent down, nipping at her earlobe, his breath hot against her ear. "You can put your hands all over me like this and not feel a damn thing but if I touch you, if I put my fingers inside you I'm going to want to be inside you, and I..."

"You think this isn't doing anything to me?" She arched, brushing her nipples against him. "I'm so wet for you right now."

Then he was pulling insistently at her panties, in another second he'd just rip them off, and she straightened her legs and arched for him. When she was naked she opened her legs to him again, her throat suddenly dry, and his mouth was hot and sweet against hers as he pressed her open and gently, slowly, led the tip of his cock just between her lips, letting it slide shallowly down the length of her slit.

"Oh God," he whispered against her mouth. "Oh God."

She bit his lower lip gently, and took him in her hand, sliding the head of his cock down until it was just barely inside her, where she was wet and aching, and Ned was panting over her. Then she slid it back up and traced the tip of him up and down, against the slippery button of her clit.

"Nan," he panted. "You have to give me time..."

"Time for what," she moaned, her shoulders tensing as she arched under him, seeking a better angle. His hand cupped over hers and he led his cock down between her thighs again, groaning before he came back up to stroke it over her clit.

"Time to put the condom on before it's too late," he whispered, but then he grabbed her hands and pinned them over her head, suckling hard against her breasts as his fingers found her clit. She bucked under him, gasping, and he was just barely inside her, and when she jerked her hips up again he moved just a little, into her, and she felt the pull between her thighs, the ache for him.

She was brought crashing back to earth when the door suddenly swung open, bouncing off the wall with a loud thwack. Immediately she and Ned sprang apart, and she sat up, clutching the sheet against her chest. "What the hell?" she demanded, already insanely angry at Bess, who was probably laughing her ass off.

"Get dressed, ma'am."

The shape in the doorway resolved into the figure of a man wearing a Stetson, his eyes cold. The lamplight gleamed off his polished badge, the shine of his shoes. Behind him Nancy could see Bess and George, gesticulating wildly at another officer.

"You're going to be coming with us."

\--

Eight hours, four cups of coffee, and countless hours of interrogation later, the sun was coming up, and Nancy had never been more glad to see it. Her father had managed to jump on a plane a mere hour after she had first called, and he was shaking hands with the sheriff's deputies who had crashed in on the cabin while Bess and George cleaned the fingerprint ink off their hands.

She hadn't even been able to look at Ned.

"I don't want to know," her father said, when they walked out of the building together, Nancy too full of nervous energy to stay sitting too long. "I just don't."

"We were going to freeze to death if we didn't—"

Carson held up a hand, silencing her almost hysterical explanation. "I know you were going to freeze to death if you didn't find shelter. And I know you had to eat. But I saw the two empty bottles of wine, and I saw your breathalyzer results, and if your 'hypothermia,'" she could almost hear the quotes around the word, "is the reason you and Ned were in the bed, alone, and practically if not fully naked—"

"Dad..."

"What?" he asked, turning to her with a mildly curious look on his face. "I'd like to hear this."

She opened her mouth a few times without anything coming out, then answered lamely, "I thought you didn't want to know."

"I don't," he answered, bemused. "I think whatever lie you were about to concoct would be fun to hear, though."

Nancy sighed, disgusted, and kicked at a rock. "So what happens now?"

"The four of you split the cost of repairing what you did in that cabin," Carson said, his tone brooking no argument. "And for a professional cleaning service to come in. Out of your own money."

Nancy set her jaw, huddling deeper into her coat.

"And you and Ned are not to see each other for two weeks."

"I'm nineteen!" Nancy blurted incredulously. "You can't ground me!"

Carson silenced her with a glare. "What you four did back there wasn't the behavior of an adult; you were acting like irresponsible teenagers, in a house that wasn't yours, and until the both of you can start acting like actual responsible human beings, I think it would be better for you to keep apart and get your priorities in order."

"So you're saying you wouldn't have done what we did, in the same situation."

"I didn't say that," Carson replied, his eyes sparkling just a little. "I'm going to go get the car."

Nancy pulled out her cell phone, relieved to see the single bar of reception.

"Hello?"

Ned had gone on ahead and was in their rental car, having it gassed up at the local service station before they began the trip to the airport, again. She could hear the wind whipping around him.

"Hey," she replied. "Everything going okay?"

"Yeah," Ned replied, a little cautiously. "Does your Dad have a hunting rifle out for me yet?"

"Not quite," she replied. "But he did say that we aren't to see each other for two weeks."

"But you're over eighteen!" Ned spluttered, after a moment of shocked silence.

"I know," she agreed. "I guess he thinks two weeks will cool us off, so we don't... make any bad decisions."

"Oh," Ned said quietly. "You know, really... other than drinking all that wine, I don't think we made that many."

"Me either." Nancy twisted a strand of hair around her finger. "So let's see if we still feel the same way in two weeks."

She tried to keep her voice light, but Ned's voice, low and clear, sent shivers down her spine anyway.

"I'll feel the same way in two weeks or two years," he said. "You're worth the wait."


End file.
